Note 9:1 — Chapter X

Hume was inclined to admire the polity of the Church of England, on grounds peculiar to himself. The tendency of his remarks on the wealth and dignity of that establishment, is to hold that heaping riches and honours on a clergy, by occupying their minds in pomps and vanities, diverts a certain portion of the spirit of priestcraft from its natural propensity to subdue or annoy the rest of the community, and is on the whole a judicious investment of a considerable proportion of the wealth and honours which may happen to be at the command of a state. Adam Smith's opinion, on the other hand, was, that the people are best protected against the influence of priestcraft, by allowing no sect to have a superiority over others, and by leaving the clergy of different denominations to expend their zeal in fighting with each other.